Bottom of the Barrel
by sapphireswimming
Summary: Jack Fenton was having the worst day of his life. The woman in black said that she could help with that.


**I have so many ideas for different ways deals could have gone down in a superphantom universe. So here's one with Jack that I wrote a while ago. He would totally walk right into this and people don't write him enough anyway.**

**And have a lovely Easter weekend, everyone!**

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**Bottom of the Barrel**

April 19, 2014

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Jack Fenton didn't really drink. Oh, he had done plenty of partying in his college days with the V-Man as they cheered on the Packers from their huddle around the dorm room's lobby TV on Sunday afternoons, but he had grown older and perhaps a little wiser and hadn't actually seen the inside of Amity Park's bar until tonight, as he tentatively took a seat at the bar stool, hoping it would hold his weight until he figured out what he was doing.

He'd never seen alcohol as a way to drown his sorrows, but then again, he'd never really had any sorrows that needed drowning after Maddie had seen to them. She was floundering in her own problems, though, and didn't have time for him. She needed her space too; he knew not to disturb that. So when she grabbed a bottle of something and a glass and closed the door to their room without a word, leaving him standing awkwardly in the hallway, he decided to take a tip from her and come here.

He ordered something that he remembered being strong and retreated with it to a table in the corner. Heads turned to follow his movements and he tried to shrink into himself as much as possible. If he couldn't have Maddie, he wanted to be alone.

He wasn't for long, though, because a dark haired woman dressed in black sat down in the empty seat opposite him. He was so caught off guard that he barely had time to sputter out his protest before she had become comfortable and leaned toward him across the table. "Um… can you…?" he began awkwardly.

"Hmm?" she raised an already arched eyebrow.

"Well, I was sitting here…"

She smiled. "Yes, I know."

"And I don't want you to be here. Not to be rude, of course, but I've kind of had a bad day."

"I could tell. Looks like maybe you could do with someone to drink with." She swirled the contents of her glass and raised it in a sort of salute.

"I don't think so."

She lowered it. "Someone to talk to, then."

"No, I… already… have someone… to talk to," he mumbled.

The woman made a show of looking around. "Uh huh," she deadpanned. "I can see that."

"She didn't want to…" he said before he broke off, ashamed that he had begun to talk about his family like that to a strange woman. "Look, can you just leave? I don't want to talk about it."

Pursing her lips, she said, "Oh I think that you need to talk about it."

Jack looked at the liquid swishing lazily at the bottom of his glass before mumbling, "But I don't want to talk about it to _you_."

"Fair enough," she said. "I understand that, but, you know, I am the one that's here," she pointed out.

And suddenly he was telling her everything. About college and his research with Vlad and Maddie, the accident that landed his best friend in the hospital, the years and years of research and planning and drafting and designing and late nights and recalculations and the endless hours they had poured into making sure everything was perfect until they had been sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that it would work and how, when he had plugged it in, there hadn't been anything more than a few sparks.

She listened intently to his rambling narrative without commentating until he ended with a shuddering breath and she asked, "What would you say if I told you that I might be able to help?"

"Help? Start the portal?" She nodded. "I wouldn't believe you. What do you know about paranormal science?"

She smiled. "I know a thing or two about life and death and what happens to people after."

Jack stared at her for a long time. "Do you really think you could do something?"

Nodding, she said, "If that's what you want, then yes I can. Now before you get all excited," she said as it looked like he would knock over the table in his haste to get out of his chair, "there's just one more thing I've got to see… to… mmmph!" she exclaimed as Jack slapped a hand on each of her shoulders and planted a happy kiss on her mouth.

"Thank you! Thank you! I'm going to go tell Maddie right now!" he yelled as he bounded toward the door.

The woman reeled in place for a moment, placed a hand to her lips as if she couldn't believe what had just happened and murmured, "Well, that has got to be the easiest one yet…"

Jack drove the GAV like a madman until he pulled up outside of Fenton Works, excitement racing through every fiber of his being at the prospect that all might not be lost and that Maddie might be her old self again once everything had been fixed.

All traces of these thoughts flew out of his head, however, when he opened the door to see his wife's pale face.

"Jack, thank goodness you're home! It's Danny. There's been an accident!"

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**Because you really should understand exactly what you're getting into before making a deal, Jack. Not that he even realizes he made one. *facepalm***

**Also! there are some new character tags for Danny Phantom. ;D**


End file.
